


A Will of its Own

by SpaceTravels



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 10:05:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13949271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceTravels/pseuds/SpaceTravels
Summary: “Don’t come any closer!” she cried out.They stood now perhaps three metres apart, circling each other slowly in the same direction, over the First Order symbol emblazoned on the gleaming floor - a spark of light opposed by its dark shadow.“Or else?”  one dark eyebrow rose challengingly.  His dark eyes bored into her’s, searching her own for something.“Or else....I will put you to sleep and carry you off to my ship”, Rey said with a mixture of defiance and impishness.  They both paused for a moment, before carrying on with their cautious procession.Following the events of the Last Jedi, General Leia discovers a scheme to assassinate her son and devises a bold plan involving Rey and her nascent Jedi abilities in desperate hope of saving him.   The plan, however, is not without its own flaws, as Kylo Ren and Rey would have to overcome their complicated relationship as deeply connected enemies before anything else.





	A Will of its Own

     Rey strode into the great hall with its gleaming dark surfaces everywhere.  To say light was hard to come by in this place was an understatement, as only the accents of cold metal on the support columns throughout the large space gave relief to the darkness when they caught the meagre light.  It also didn't help that she wore a mask, and was as yet unaccustomed to the strange colour and perspectives it showed her through the visor.  

      _So this is where he spends his days,_ Rey thought with a grim set to her mouth, taking a deep inward breath, and trying to focus on the throne at the end of the long and nearly empty space.  She couldn’t see him yet, but there was a deeply morose and chaotic energy reverberating through the hall, one so strong that even a non-Force sensitive would be intimidated by it. Straightening her posture, Rey returned her concentration to remembering all of the lessons Leia had taught her about about carrying oneself with a regal bearing.  She needed to be convincing until she had the Supreme Leader alone.  

      _Well, here goes_ , she thought to herself.

     Rey was truly not aware of the striking effect she had as strode in, focussed as she was at the task at hand.   Swathed in an iridescent white cape that captured and magnified whatever light it could, she resembled a shock of light gliding through the darkness.  Even the guards’ and stormtroopers’ helmeted heads turned ever so slightly in her direction as if they themselves could not stop from taking in the sight of her slim and assured figure. Dressed in a elegantly draped dress of the palest silver-grey, with jewelled details at the waist, and the luminescent cape swishing softly behind her, she looked other-worldly.  As she finally arrived before the black robed figure of the notoriously reclusive Supreme Leader - his face obscured by the long draping of his hood -  the guards pushed her forcibly to her knees as they all kneeled.  Rey fought the urge to voice a cutting protest with a burning swallow in her throat.   _This was not the moment to fight_ , she reminded herself   

     “Rise,” was the curt voice of the Supreme Leader.  

     “My Lord, as mentioned, the Queen of Trara 9 has insisted on seeing you.  She says that she has repeatedly requested an audience with General Hux, but that he has refused her repeatedly.  She has employed some questionable tactics to forcibly board our vessel”, spoke the red-clad guard on Rey’s right.  

     Rey saw the Supreme Leader incline his head to the side as he considered her.  “And those are?”  

     A nervous clearing of the throat.  “Sir, she somehow managed to defy our sensors, drop our shields...and crash her ship into Hangar B.”  

     “I see. Is her ship still intact?”

     “Yes, sir, it is.  Queen Sorayeen is quite an excellent pilot, it seems.”  

     The Supreme Leader gave a slight incline of the head.  “Secure her ship.  I will inspect it myself.  No one else is to board it.  I expect the technology used will be difficult to detect without my insight with the Force.  You may leave us.”  He said, the deep timbre of his voice echoing through the hall. 

     “But sir - she may be dangerous.  She is unarmed but her boldness, in and of itself, raises our concerns”, said what Rey assumed was the head guard due to the black epaulet he wore over his red robes.  

     “And I said leave us.  I will notify you if you are needed”, was the voice that was both impatient and carried with it a note of warning.  A wave of a hand and the guards quickly fell away and filed out of the room, the sound of the doors closing echoing through the cavernous space.  

     “Queen Sorayeen.  You have taken a grave chance in coming here.  Whatever could be so urgent for you to arrive with such insistence and in such a dramatic fashion?  Normally you would be detained immediately, and executed, but your foolishness has apparently merited an interrogation by me directly,” was the aloof voice of Supreme Leader Ren.  He had still not moved forward, and Rey could see nothing but the shape of the soft draping of his hood over his head

     “Am I really so foolish?” Rey asked boldly, still unaccustomed to the sound of her voice through the modulator she wore.  She raised her masked face, so that the intricate silver work glinted under the dim spotlights.  “What kind of Queen would I be if I did not exhaust every possibility in defending her people?  Your General has repeatedly ignored our requests to negotiate peacefully.”

     Kylo Ren shifted in his throne, still none of his face visible beneath his dark cowl.  He braced his black gloved hands together repeatedly, oddly almost mirroring the position of Rey’s own hands.  

     Rey tempered herself - feeling that her heart wanted to beat much faster.  It was so difficult to know what do do, as with the Force almost entirely cut off from her, she could not feel his thoughts as she usually could.  It reminded her of her days as a scavenger, entering the enormous and eerily silent spaces of abandoned Star Destroyers, waiting for a sound or anything to signal her a potential threat.  It was so odd to her how much she missed the intermingling of their thoughts and minds like threads that wove together.  

     “Intriguing.  Why is it that I can sense nothing from you?  Nothing at all?  Not one thought, emotion, intention?”

     Rey fought an urge to finger the force-dampening bracelet Leia had given her, and squared her shoulders once again.  It was time to end the charade and get on with her mission, though she would challenge the exceeding arrogance of the Supreme Leader in doing so.    “If it is my intentions you are concerned with, I assure you that if I meant you harm, I have already had ample opportunity to kill you.”

     A deep rumble emanated from Kylo Ren, a sound unlike anything Rey had ever heard from him before.  “You are so confident in your abilities?”

    “Am I so wrong to be?” Rey asked.  “Twice I had the opportunity to kill you as you lay prone in front of me, but it is wasn’t, and still isn’t, my desire to do so”,   she enunciated each word with deadly clarity.  

     “Who are you, really?”  Kylo suddenly rose to his full and commanding height, but Rey was quicker and in one swift motion yanked open her bracelet so that it clattered to the floor, and shot out her hand to freeze him in place.  Kylo Ren was in turn, so shocked, that he he apparently did not even think to struggle at first.  With her free hand, Rey threw back the hood of her cape and drew her mask away from her face.

     “Someone who cares about you”, she said quickly.

     Kylo now also tossed back his cowl, his ever-expressive face cycling through a myriad of emotions - shock, confusion and then, a sort of grudging admiration.  The Force now also flowed freely between them, nearly winding the both of them with its impact like an all-encompassing tide.  

     “Rey.  _Of course it is you_ ,”  he breathed finally.  “Are you completely out of your mind?”

     “Listen to me, Ben.  We don’t have much time.  You are in grave danger.  General Hux is planning a coup, and he will imprison you and attempt to use your powers for some sort of super weapon.  He and Snoke had planned this all along.”  

     Kylo Ren gritted his teeth in determination to break through Rey’s Force hold and took one step forward.  “Hux is a fool, a beast of a man, and a thorn in my side.  Don’t you think I know that?”  

     “And yet, you ally yourself with his cause?”  Rey asked with a hint of resignation to her voice, which was already shaking with the strain of holding him back. She couldn’t hold him back any longer.  He moved freely now.  “Don’t come any closer!” she cried out.

     They stood now perhaps three metres apart, circling each other slowly in the same direction, over the First Order symbol emblazoned on the gleaming floor - a spark of light opposed by its dark shadow.

     “Or else?”  one dark eyebrow rose challengingly.  His dark eyes bored into her’s, searching her own for something.

     “Or else....I will put you to sleep and carry you off to my ship”, Rey said with a mixture of defiance and impishness.  They both paused for a moment, before carrying on with their cautious procession. 

     “You are so bold to threaten the Supreme Leader this way?”  He asked in velvety tones.  There was something almost of a smile hinting around his mouth.  

     Another defiant raise of the chin.  “I am.”  

     Kylo Ren snorted with a bemused shake of the head.   “Your skills have increased.  I am impressed.”

     “I cannot lie and claim it all by myself.  I have had access to an excellent knowledge base” she said carefully, and they both paused in the strange rhythm of their circling.  

     If Kylo was surprised by the compliment suggested by her words, he did not show it.  Kylo made a low sound and then continued their circling, prowling like a cat advancing on its prey.  “So why are you really here?  I have heard nothing from you in months.  Did you miss me so much that you risked certain death by sneaking your way onto my flagship?” 

     Rey paused in her steps and it was her turn to snort.  “Hardly. I have no use for for the Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, I am here for Ben Solo.”

     His generous mouth set into a grim line.  “Ben Solo does not exist anymore.  Save yourself the trouble and just come to terms with that.” 

     Rey sighed.  “Ben Solo is right here standing in front of me.  He is tearing Kylo Ren to shreds from the inside, and that is why you have no rest from it.  Ben Solo is a formidable opponent, indeed.”  

    The usually assured Kylo Ren paused again for a moment, as if trying to digest Rey’s words.  She felt him trying to invade her mind but each had quickly erected barriers to keep the other out.  

     Using his hesitation to her advantage, Rey rushed to speak again.  “Everything I have said is true.  Your mother...she has informants who have told her of these plans.  The weapon’s construction is almost complete.  Queen Sorayeen agreed to having me impersonate her because she knows Hux does not intend to negotiate with Trara 9 for the materials he needs for its completion.  He will invade and take them, killing however many is needed to have his way.  

    Kylo Ren staggered and paled visibly.  “My mother?  General Organa is alive?”  

     Rey stopped again, her face softening. When she spoke again, her tone implored him to listen.   “Look.  Look for yourself.  She is alive, but not well.”   Rey spoke gently and closed her eyes, concentrating on images from her last few discussions with Leia.  In the haze of her memories, Leia’s face, looking wan and increasingly drawn, came into sharp focus.  

 

     “ _Rey…for a moment I gave up hope, but you and Luke gave it back to me.  I want my son.  I want to see him again.  I want desperately to hear his voice and know what kind of man he has become.  I want to know the small things, like, you know, when he was a child, I used to measure his tiny hands in the palms of my own.    I want to know that it is the opposite now - that his hands would easily dwarf mine.  Simple wishes that have seemed so far out of reach......Rey, I just want him to know…how deeply sorry I am that I failed him._

_Rey had closed her eyes in that moment, absorbing the pain that flowed so freely from the older lady’s heart.  She was not the awe-inspiring Leader of the Alliance, Galactic Senator, or General of the Resistance, at that moment, nor even the regal Princess she once was.  She was just a broken woman, a grieved mother, buried under the anguish of the prospect of losing her only child forever.  Rey finally understood what was the the potential of a mother’s love, of how it could overcome the darkest of hours._

      _“I have seen the light in him, Leia, as hard as he tries to extinguish it.  It is the light of you and Han inside of him.  He cannot turn his back on it anymore.  I know it.  But I also know that I cannot destroy Kylo Ren…that it is not as easy as that.   He is the only one who can.  He has to kill Kylo Ren in order to become what he is meant to be.  I am still struggling to understand the Force and everything it means, but I know this with every fibre of my being.  He is the hope for the galaxy.  He has the power to shake the stars from the sky or to light them again.”_

      _“Will you go to him, Rey?  If General Hux succeeds, there will be no turning back."_

      _“We didn’t leave things in such a good way.  I am not sure Ben will be too pleased to see me again.”_

      _Leia had cocked her head to the side, and a mischievous glint had come across her eyes, something Rey was certain was reminiscent of her more youthful days.  “I am not so sure about that.  He is a Solo after all.”  Her face then had grown serious again, “Rey.  I love my boy.  I want to see him, and to talk to him again, before anything else takes him further away from me.  Will you help me, Rey?”_

 

     The man that called himself Kylo Ren backed away, turning to face the other direction, looking back towards the throne he had sat upon just a few moments before.   His hunched shoulders revealed the extent of his turmoil as he stood with his hands on his hips, and even as his voice came sounding detached and  mechanical.   “And you, what is it that you want from all of this?”  

     Rey swallowed with difficulty, battling with a part of herself that wanted to wrap her arms around him to offer him the comfort of a friend.  She couldn’t understand how this man wasn't crushed under the sheer pressure of conflicting emotions he struggled with in perpetuity.  “I - I have a proposal for you,”  she said haltingly.  

     “A proposal?” He repeated finally, his voice expressing disbelief.  “Of what sort?”

     “Well, the thing is, I have learned what I could but I - I…need a teacher.”

     “ _You_ _need_ a teacher?”  he pronounced slowly.  

      Rey drew in a sharp breath, slumping her shoulders in defeat.  “Yes.  I need a teacher.  As hard as it is for me to say this -, ” she paused a moment and nibbled on her lip uncertainly, “…I need _you_.”

      Kylo Ren swivelled back around, his gloved hand rubbing his face thoughtfully as his brows drew together.  “Well, this is certainly not how I thought this day would go,”  he said dryly, shaking his head in obvious disbelief.  “I am to believe that you risked everything to come here to beg the help of a monster?  That you are simply not working on some scheme for your precious Resistance again?”

     Rey winced but nodded slowly, raising her hazel eyes to meet his.  Her nostrils flared and quivered slightly.  “Please don’t make this more difficult for me than it already is.  I have never relied on anyone my entire life.  And even when I went to Luke…that relationship wasn’t easy.  But I have hit a wall, and I don’t know how to get past it,”  she spoke in low tones.  Her hands moved beneath her cape to just beneath the fabric of the dress she wore. She had carefully placed a small packet beneath her dress in such a way that it would go undetected by the stormtroopers who had searched her.  Rey pulled out the small clothed item from beneath her robes and held it out to him, her hand trembling just a bit.  “Here, a small gift…as a peace offering, and as a sign of trust between us.”  

     Kylo glanced up at her, perplexed, before his eyes fell back down to the fabric-wrapped parcel.  It looked so plain sitting there in its brown cloth in Rey’s delicate hand, though only the two Force-users could recognise what immense power was contained within such a small volume.  Kylo’s nostrils flared as he pulled off one of his glove and slowly reached for the other end of it with his bare fingers.  Their gazes locked and held, and each made a sharp gasp of surprise.  

     “ _Where did you get this_?” his voice betraying the awe that vibrated between them.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are like wind in my sails. Keep them coming hard. :-)))


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